Taya's 8th Birthday Party - Bakery Theme

When Taya told me she wanted a bakery themed birthday party, I was SUPER excited.  Things have been so stressful around here with trying to get ready to move that I was hoping for an easy theme.  This was by far one of the easiest, yet one of the funnest parties I've ever done.  Yay to Taya for helping me give her the best bakery themed party ever.

We went with fun pink/green/yellow colors with lots of cupcakes all over the house.  Taya loved it.

And of course we needed a giant cupcake piñata.

And cupcake goodie bags of course.

We gave each guest a pink apron to design however they wanted . . . 

And we had TONS of mini bundt cakes, giant cupcakes, & lots of different frosting colors.  I used a different decorating tip for each frosting & taught the kids a lesson on how to use frosting tips for different effects.  Who knew they'd be THAT interested in it?

One thing Taya begged for for her bakery themed party was a chocolate fountain.  My friend Nancy made her wish come true by buying her a chocolate fountain as her birthday gift.  She was SO excited.

We dipped all sorts of fruit, cookies, graham crackers, marshmallows, & pretzels into the chocolate.  It was amazingly delicious.

When the guests started arriving, we started them off by having them design/decorate their own aprons.  I was amazed by their creativity.  They literally drew for almost 40 minutes.  I had to stop them so we could move on.  I was glad they enjoyed it so much.

Next we enjoyed the spoils of the chocolate fountain.  The kids were THRILLED to play with the dripping chocolate.  They were pretty sugared up by the time we were done with the fountain.

So, because filling up on chocolate wasn't enough, we went outside & broke the piñata full of MORE SUGAR.  ha ha ha.

Then we came inside & I taught them all how to use frosting bags & decorating tips.  They LOVED this.  It was SO MUCH FUN watching them create their own cakes.

Taya made a scary purple monster cupcake.

Bladen made a mummy cupcake with rainbow sprinkles.

Craiger & Daddy made a spikey cupcake.

Cadence took a lot of time on her cakes.  She made two very pretty floral cupcakes.

I was floored by Lorien's skills.  She is a total decorator.  She had control of the frosting & knew how to use it.  I was SO excited seeing her excited about this.  She's going to be a cake decorator someday.  I was amazed.

 

She made a really pretty purple floral cupcake & then she made an amazing octopus cupcake as well. They were beautiful.

Finally, it was time to eat our creations.  I laughed because most of the kids didn't want to eat anything at this point.  They were SO full of sugar that the idea of eating more made them sick.  So we mostly just stared at the beautifully decorated cakes.

Finally, it was present time.  Taya has such wonderful friends here.  We're going to miss them so much.

Lizzie gave her some Pokeman cards & a Pikachu stuffed toy.

Nathan & Sarah gave her a fort building kit.

And Molly & Katie gave her a horse trailer with play horses.

It really was a great birthday party.  I had a blast putting it together & in my opinion, it was one of the funnest parties to watch.  They kids really had a great time & that makes me so happy.

Happy 8th birthday Taya.  We love you.

Taya's Getting Baptized

Taya just turned 8 years old which means it's time for her to choose whether or not to be baptized a member of our church or not.  In our church you can get baptized any time after you turn 8.  Some people are baptized at 8 years old, others wait until their teenage years, & others don't get baptized until they are adults.  Taya has been anxiously awaiting for this day.  We are very excited & proud of her for making this grown up decision.

She is getting baptized on Saturday, October 8th at our church building in Suffolk, VA.  Her Mimi & Baba bought her a beautiful white dress to wear to symbolize the clean feeling you get when your sins are washed away.

She looks like a beautiful little princess in her dress.  I can't wait to see her Saturday morning.  It's going to be a beautiful day.

Back To School

It's that time again.  Back to School.  The kids are THRILLED to be back in school again.  Summer is fun, but after 2.5 months, they get really bored & are eager to get back on a routine & learn again.

This year at Meet the Teacher night, we were thrilled with every single teacher our kids got this year. . . even if we're only going to be here for 2 months.

Cadence starts middle school this year.  I still can't believe I have a middle schooler.  She has LOTS of teachers & she loves it.  She has English & History in the morning, then lunch, then Math, Science, Music/PE.  She is loving every second of it.

Lorien is still at Westside Elementary (for 4th, 5th, & 6th graders) & she got the teacher she was hoping for:  Mr. Bailey.  She's the first of all our kids to get a male teacher & she just loves being in his class.  Lorien tends to get the super strict, no parties, no fun teachers so we were thrilled at this news.  Mr. Bailey is wonderful.  He has a fun way of teaching hard skills so they stick & he is full of treats, parties, & fun learning.

Bladen was thrilled to find out he got Taya's teacher from last year, Mrs. Lenz.  We LOVED Mrs. Lenz last year & are SO happy he has her this year.  She got Taya reading at a 5th grade reading level by the end of 1st grade last year & already in just a month, she's got Bladen up to a 2nd grade reading level.  She's the most amazing teacher my kids' have ever had.

Taya got Lorien's old teacher, Mrs. Operaji.  Lorien had Mrs. O. when we moved here 3 years ago & we loved her so we were thrilled to find out Taya got her this year.  She was very sad to learn that we are moving November 1st.

Mrs. O. still has a picture of Lorien on her classroom wall.  She was happy to have Lo visit her on Meet the Teacher Night.

The first day of school went wonderfully.  We have 4 kids going to 3 different schools this year so our mornings are a little bit on the crazy side.  Cadence leaves first at 6:40 am to make it to the middle school on time.  Her school starts at 7:30.

Lorien leaves 2nd.  Her bus comes at 7:45.  She was SO excited.

Taya & Bladen leave for school at 8:15.  They are still together at Carrollton Elementary.  I'm glad they have each other.

Happy 2015-2016 School Year.  We are excited to see what the new year brings both here in VA & in CA.  My kids are ready for the adventure.

Last Day of Summer Fun

As summer comes to a close, we like to try to have a little fun before the new school year starts.  School started the day after Labor Day, so we spent the day playing with the kids.

First we took them to the theater to see the movie "Minions."

They had fun at the arcade with the few quarters they brought.

Then we took a short trip up to Colonial Williamsburg to explore one more time before we move to CA November 1st.  We have always loved Williamsburg.  I think it's going to be one of the biggest things I miss when we leave here.  I love walking up & down the old streets with all the costumed colonials.  It's so much fun.  I'm going to miss being a part of the birthplace of America.

The Governor's Palace was beautiful.

And of course the kids wanted to play in the stocks next to the courthouse.

All the buildings down the dirt path are just amazing.  I can't believe some of them have been around since the 1600's.

The kids got to play with the hoops down the street & Taya got to play with the little ball toy they used to play with back in the day.  All the people in costume were in love with all our blonde kids.  We had so much fun.

Good-bye Summer & Good-bye Williamsburg.  You have been so good to us.  We will miss you.